Chapter 38: Weird Old Zhang
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang went back to his hotel room after dinner as the sky was getting dark.
He spent some time listing down the items he wanted to purchase the next day.
He then started to read about the Grade-1 wild zone that was near foothold No.7D121 on the Heart Network.
Foothold No.7D121 was known as the Snowy Mountain Town by locals.
The entire foothold was located in the west with a gigantic pathway to the snowy mountain at the back that looked like a bowl broken in half which surrounded the bottom of the foothold.
The east side was filled with huge canyons and they were semi-circular. The widest one faced the north-south and was a few hundred kilometers long. East of these canyons were vast grasslands surrounded by mountains and 3,000 meters below sea level was a grade-1 wild zone.
This was a people-prone area and therefore there were very few monsters for fear that they will be killed by humans. Lin Huang looked at the categories of monsters in each area one by one.
"The wild zone further away from the Snowy Mountain housed bird monsters. There were fewer flatlands there though which were not suitable for me to train to prepare for real battles."
"Meanwhile, the monsters in the canyons came from the grassland and Snowy Mountains but were killed by people passing by and because of that, I can’t collect more Monster Card pieces."
"It seems like the grassland on the east side is most suitable for me."
"Warrior Wolf would be a great prey; I could obtain Monster Card pieces faster from monsters that live in a pack. It would look so much cooler and comfortable if I rode on it instead of the Sand Monster. The Lion-Headed Troll too! It was such a majestic monster. The Ox Devil isn't too bad; it's muscular and huge enough that its appearance alone was sufficient to scare people away…"
"Skill-wise, the Warrior Wolf's Blood Battle, the Lion-Headed Troll's Magic Eye Deterrence and Ox Devil's Champion Strength are all good…" After some analysis, Lin Huang had decided which area was most suitable for him.
The next morning, Lin Huang went to the Credit Bureau; it belonged to the government. It only opened at nine o'clock in the morning so there was no need for him to rush.
He took a stroll in the garden at the bureau's entrance since it was not time yet.
When it did open, Lin Huang walked right in and traded all his Life Crystals into credit points. Now he had more than 3.5 million credit points. The Life Crystals were taken from Xue Jie earlier.
After that, Lin Huang headed to the flea market.
The flea market in the Snowy Mountain Town was located at the center of the foothold. It was not big but there were many shops, up to 1,000 of them.
They had almost everything there including food ingredients, daily necessities, guns and ammunition and swords.
Perhaps the area was surrounded by a wild zone; there were more than 30 shops here that were selling battle equipment while the foothold that Lin Huang stayed only had three of them.
Ling Huang's purpose here was mainly to look for the exclusive bullets for his GrayEagle17, armored bullets, and equipment to survive the wilderness since he planned to stay in the wild zone for a week.
After asking around, he was told that none of the seven to eight shops were selling exclusive bullets and armored bullets for his GrayEagle17. This new ‘royalty' gun was not used by many ordinary people, so this small foothold would not have the right stock of bullets for such a gun. Especially the armored bullets, they were expensive and so it did not make sense for the shops to keep stocks.
"We don't have the bullets that you're looking for. In a small area like this, we don't see anyone who carries GrayEagle17 in a year. You can try Old Zhang's grocery store at the west side of the city. That fella collects strange things. If there's none at his store, then you won't be able to find it anywhere else. But be careful, that fella is sly and he would double or triple the original price." A shop owner reminded Lin Huang. He gave Lin Huang valuable advice because he thought Lin Huang was rich as he could afford a GrayEagle17.
After purchasing everything he needed at the flea market, Lin Huang asked around a few more times for the bullets and finally, he gave up. He hesitated for a while and headed to the west of the city.
Old Zhang's store was located in an alley where nobody visited. Theoretically, even a shop in the flea market could not make much money in this small foothold and yet, Old Zhang opened his shop in such a secluded area, he must be weird.
After asking a couple of people, Lin Huang finally found the exact location of the store.
The plaque with a bright neon light on the outside of the door had the words 'Cloud's End' written on it, Lin Huang laughed. This weird old man must be full of himself.
He stepped into the shop, it was not as messy as he imagined. On the contrary, it was very organized.
All the items were placed accordingly on the shelves, even the decorations were tasteful.
Lin Huang was stunned.
"Is the owner in?" Lin Huang did not call the owner's name as that seen as rude. He considered himself a good, respectful kid to never call an elder by their first name.
"If you need anything, look on the shelves yourselves. When you are done, bring it over here and call me." Lin Huang heard someone talking, but he did not see anyone. The voice sounded more like a middle-aged man than an old man's voice.
"This feels like markets on earth…" Lin Huang mumbled.
Sensing that Old Zhang did not want to be bothered, Lin Huang did not ask further and walked to the shelf where the firearms were placed.
He frowned while he glanced through the guns on the shelf.
There was equipment from iron-level to gold-level, and all of them were pricey and limited edition stuff.
"It seems to me that this Old Zhang is rich!"
After glancing through, Lin Huang did not waste any more time. He looked towards the bullets placed under the guns and found the exclusive bullets and armored bullets for his GrayEagle17.
There was only a sample box. Lin Huang took one box each for both bullets and went to the counter at the entrance.
"Boss, I’ve taken what I wanted but it's not enough."
"Let's me take a look."
A middle-aged bald man with a beard walked in. He was tan, and he looked like he was in his 40’s, but he may look much younger if he shaved his beard.
Lin Huang did not doubt that he was the shop owner. Although he looked ordinary, his vibe matched the shop very well.
What Lin Huang did not understand was why people would call him ‘old' when he was not old.
Old Zhang glanced at Lin Huang and looked at the bullets that he selected, his eyes lighten up, "Oh you're from a rich family, how much do you want?"
"I'm not rich; this gun is a gift." Lin Huang did not wish to be ripped off by him, so he explained,
"How much are these bullets?"
"The same prices as you see on the Heart Network." Old Zhang smiled.
Lin Huang was confused. He heard that Old Zhang was a rip-off because he doubled or even tripled the original price.
Now that he offered the original price, he started to think that the bullets might be pirated.
"These bullets are original right?"
"Why, did you hear somebody saying that I am a rip-off where I double or triple the original price?" Old Zhang smiled and looked at Lin Huang.
Lin Huang was stunned but he did not want to hide, "Someone did say that."
"No matter who told you that, it's true. I love doing that but it depends on my mood. I like you, so I'm selling them to you at the original price, it's that simple." After that, Old Zhang added, "The bullets are original. It's up to you if you want to buy them."
Lin Huang looked into Old Zhang eyes. They locked eyes for a moment. He could sense that the old man was not lying so he nodded and said, "Okay, I trust you. I want 3000 exclusive bullets for my GrayEagle17 and 300 armored bullets."
"Are you planning a massacre?" Old Zhang was shocked and he gave him a price, "That'll be a total of 650,000 credit points."
"Do you have enough stock here?" Lin Huang could not help but ask.
"Don't worry, I have plenty! No matter what you want and how much you want, I have them. As long as you have the money, I can get you whatever relics you want." Old Zhang grinned.
If that came from someone else, Lin Huang would not believe. But after browsing through Old Zhang's collection, he believed that Old Zhang could get whatever he wanted although he sounded boastful.
"Sure, if I need any relics in the future, I’ll look for you!" Lin Huang returned the grin.